On the way home from a Wednesday evening testimony meeting I thought back on the inspiring testimonies and quietly gave thanks for the glorious proofs of God's power and love expressed in them. I myself had not spoken that evening. Everything was going well for me; there were no problems in regard to health or human relationships. So what could I have said, what could I have given special thanks for?

Wait—I wasn't satisfied with this excuse. I pursued the point until I could see that it was simply impossible for me to be without a cause for gratitude, even for a day. Right when everything is going smoothly we can be thankful that mishaps have never happened—in the allness of God, they are unreal and untrue.

When we strive increasingly to express Truth and Love as we learn them in Christian Science, when we lift our consciousness more and more to the divine reality, then we see more and more evidence of the divine power operating quietly and irresistibly in us and transforming us to a "renewing of [our] mind, that [we] may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." ^{Rom. 12:2;} We notice that our approach has changed when, in the face of bad news or distressing circumstances, we know where to find the solution. We are not seized with fear and dread, but our hearts fill with compassionate love for our neighbors and supporting thoughts for those in need. We find ways to support, assist, and help carry the burden in practical, effective ways dictated by wisdom and generosity, and always as a result of prayer. That is really a contribution to the deliverance and liberation of all people from the dangers to which they feel exposed—an indirect contribution to world peace.

Every Sunday at the conclusion of the service in a Church of Christ, Scientist, we hear the words from I John, "Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." ^{I John 3:1;} Let us be grateful for the blessing that lies in the fact that the "world" does not know us or find us, that we can feel hidden in the light and the power of God, Love.

We need to be in a state of standby alert, always aware of Truth and Love, the power of God, surrounding and sustaining us. Then we are able to completely exterminate the lie. We know that what we study are not magic formulas. It is not words read or learned by heart that protect and heal, but the inwardly understood spiritual meaning we have made our own. God is Mind, all-knowing. He is also our Mind, the source of our knowing. All that we can know is, therefore, the reflection of what God knows. Thus, there can be no fear and no doubt that we can at all times and in every situation know how to silence lying suggestions and assert our freedom.

Christ Jesus, our Way-shower, knew himself to be at one with all power, all Love, all Life. He knew himself to be allied with God, who fills all space and is all power. Jesus is our model. If we want to make our lives harmonious, if we yearn to heal ourselves and others, we should follow his example precisely and work as he did. Jesus' starting point was always God. Let us deepen and purify our thoughts, our knowledge of God; then we will be led from this right beginning step by step in the right direction—to the solution of all questions, to the harmony of Life.

In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy asks, "Is there more than one God or Principle?" Her answer reads in part: "There is not. Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe." ^{Science and Health, pp. 465-466;} Here we have a firm basis for our work: God, the One, has created all; thus everything in His creation reflects His being, His character. Where, then, can there be a danger that would arbitrarily threaten us or others? Can there be a power that exists outside creation, the creation made by the one God, who called it "very good"? ^{Gen. 1:31;}

When we proceed from the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis and from the words of Mrs. Eddy quoted above, all thoughts logically lead to the recognition that nothing evil can really exist. We are not like soldiers in a besieged fortress, crowded into a narrow space. There is no "outside," for what can there be besides All—besides God? The textbook contains the following fundamental statement: "The nothingness of nothing is plain; but we need to understand that error is nothing, and that its nothingness is not saved, but must be demonstrated in order to prove the somethingness—yea, the allness—of Truth." ^{Science and Health, p. 346.}

We must realize that Truth, Life, Love, is, and that it is not up to us to make Life living, Truth true, or Love loving. Our prayers are not a laborious rectifying of a world fallen to pieces (how, indeed, would we have the strength to do that?) but the restful recognition of the greatness, might, and goodness of the Father, who has created the universe and who surely can and does guide and maintain this creation of His today, as at all times.

When we recognize this, we no longer feel like swimmers having to make their way against the current. Instead, we are buoyed up by the infinite current of divine Love, which supports us. We calmly face erroneous beliefs that seem to threaten, and they disappear.

We can be grateful for the privilege of giving thanks daily that everything hostile is nothing. The only power that such erroneous beliefs can wield is what we give them when we accord power to them by showing them acceptance, fear, or respect. Joyfully and confidently we can give thanks for the great truth that God is All and everything besides Him and His ideas is nothing.